Ursula's Eye
Ursula's Eye is the third book in the Sky Highway Saga, by Andy Wright. It takes place in the Emergence Era of the Lower Knight timeline. It was self-published on Lulu.com in 2007, but is currently not available for purchase. Plot Summary Nat helps manage a refugee camp, filled with dispossesed citizens following the distruction of much of New Portland at the end of Colliding Worlds . He is soon summoned back to Two Edged, for the first time since leaving to explore the Sky Highway. There, he's given an extremely unusual mission. Fearing an upcoming attack from the multiple countries that now know about Two Edged, the once-isolated region needs fuel and ammunition, but doesn't have the time to synthesize the resources. Nat is then to go with Kwon to a huge antimatter factory on the moon, named Ursula's Eye. It's the only one with a low enough level of security for them to pull off the operation without anyone knowing for at least a few weeks. A plan is already in the works, but Nat and Kwon must go energize their armors with a specific platinum sphere which will significantly increase their armors ability to synthesize air, making it effectively a space suit. During the mission to get the spheres, Kwon breaks his arm and is unable to go on the mission to Ursula's Eye. The only other person who can accompany him on the mission, because she's the only other person who's trusted by the inside man who will get Nat through the first security checkpoint, is a young woman named Steph Belandar. During the process to begin the trip to the moon, Nat meets Ray Quintessi, who demands that he accompany Nat and Steph during the first leg of the journey. He also meets Cass, who is the inside "man" mentioned before, for the first time. The Namasokai Sphere It's during the events of Ursula's Eye that Nat learns of some of the true abilities gained through his armor merging with the Namasokai sphere. To understand why it is unusual, one must know the story behind it's origin. King Namasokai "King" Namsokai was actually a woman who lived hundreds of years before the founding of the Lower Knights. Through manipulation of historical records, her gender was disguised. She was a tribal leader that needed to find a way to destroy a Kamornosh dragon that was harassing the village she was governing. She hired warriors of every different faith she could seek out. She prayed to every god she could find. This continued until she approached a prophet of Abbanosh, though they did not refer to him by that name. In their culture, Abbanosh was known as Aganodeo. The prophet told her she needed to find a legendary weapon, sealed in a cave. She didn't know it, but she was entering a sphere cavern and essentially engaging in a Lower Knight leveling ceremony. She obtained a perfect platinum sphere, of an unknown level of ranking, and used it to defeat a Guardian with a powerful blast of duedamus fire. Finally, Namasokai returned to the surface and defeated the Kamornosh dragon with the sphere. She grew in power and influence, bringing a golden age for the Namasokai worldwide (the Sky Highway existed at this time, but was utilized slightly differently). Namasokai then gave an epitaph speach, speaking an important prophecy about the Namasokai sphere that would be repeated and modified and romantisized for centuries to come. This is why when Nat's armor fuses with the sphere, he's considered the returned Namasokai by the Natoas. She did not actually die after giving the speach, though. She escaped her rule, hiding in the underground city of Forest Rain in Two Edged and living out several more decades. Abilities Nat's duedamus mastery centers almost entirely around Shula Naté style, or "way of wind." One advantage of having this specialty is that he is very good at misdirection and mind tricks on opponents. The Namasokai sphere had special abilities when Namasokai herself had it, but when fused with Nat's armor, it became entirely specialized for controling computer systems. Nat can "talk" to any sort of logic processor. The sphere, which is embedded in his helm, also grants him full access to and through nearly any computerized security system in existance, which is inherently required for him to be able to talk to and command the computer systems. As he grows to better understand the ability, he gains broader, faster and more precise control over various types of computerized systems.